They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.

These well-known lines are derived from a much longer poem by Laurence Binyon called ‘For the Fallen’ which was written late in the September of 1914 a few weeks after the outbreak of the First World War. It was adopted by the British Royal Legion to commemorate fallen soldiers and is therefore regularly recited at Remembrance Day services across the country.

It is perhaps unusual that these four lines where selected rather than the first stanza, the last stanza or the whole poem. The seven-stanza long poem primarily focuses on the reasons for the war, talking about the ‘cause of the free’ and the ‘glory that shines’. The fourth stanza is the exception in that it only remembers the lost and does not mention the cause for the war, making it perfect over 100 years later for remembrance services. Laurence Binyon revealed in 1939 that he actually thought up these 4 lines first and then proceeded to create the rest of the poem around them.

These lines were also selected for their beautiful simplicity. Without actively trying I am sure that many people know these lines off by heart which is a true testament to their effect. They are hard hitting without using jargon or difficult to learn facts. They are simple without attempting to simplify the horrors of the war. They are assertive without feeling oppressive. They are poignant without being over emotional. Most importantly they remember the millions of men and women that were tragically lost during the war.